Vishnu nicolo seal

The Vishnu nicolo seal is a famous seal (1.4 inch by 1.05 inch) from the Indian subcontinent, dated to the 4th-6th century CE. It is now located in the British Museum.

The seal depicts the four-armed god Vishnu, being prayed by a devotee. Vishnu holds his classical attributes: the gada club, the chakra discus, the wheel and the lotus.

The seal was first reported by Alexander Cunningham in The Numismatic Chonicle of 1893. Cunningham, saw in the devotee the Kushan ruler Huvishka, based on the similarity of the headdress.

More recent research however has permitted the complete deciphering of the seal by Ghirshman, and given a different interpretation of the scene. The text on the seal is said to be the Kushan script and mentions three major Hindu gods:

"Miarka Yasna Oezo" meaning:
"Mihira, Vishnu, Shiva"

This recent research also identified the devotee, not with Huvishka, but with a Huna king.

The seal also suggest that a composite cult of the three deities Surya (another name for Mihira, meaning "Sun"), Vishnu and Shiva was current in India circa 500 CE.

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